INUVIK
It's been a summer of good news and bad news for the Inuvik Community Greenhouse, which has been bouncing between highs of community support to lows of repeated break-and-enters.

Emily Mann, coordinator at the Inuvik Community Greenhouse, looks forward to the programming the organization can offer thanks to winning $5,000 in an online contest hosted by Tangerine. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photos

Last week, that trend looked to continue, as at the same time the greenhouse was celebrating winning $5,000 in an online contest hosted by Tangerine, staff were wringing their hands about a shipping fiasco that looked to stop a major investment for plant lovers in two Beaufort Delta communities.

The greenhouse, through the Government of the Northwest Territories, purchased two geodesic dome greenhouses to the tune of roughly $24,000, with one destined for each of Tuktoyaktuk and Ulukhaktok.

It was especially needed in Ulukhaktok, where the community's greenhouse was destroyed in a storm last year.

"They've really been crippled this year without having a greenhouse," said Ray Solotki, executive director of the Inuvik greenhouse, adding that the coordinator in Ulu was growing plants out of her home this summer.

The geodesic domes are suited to growing conditions in the North, as well as potentially being tourist attractions themselves.

However, a shipping snafu had both greenhouses stuck in storage at Manitoulin Transport in Inuvik.

Greenhouse staff weed the Ulukhaktok garden. Thanks to community members stepping up, a shipping crisis was averted and greenhouse materials destined for the communities are on their way.

The greenhouses were purchased from a company in St. Louis and shipped by Saia LTL Freight, but a miscommunication had the shipping stop in Inuvik instead of going all the way to the communities, as Solotki had thought was the deal.

But as Inuvik tends to do, volunteers immediately stepped up once hearing of the greenhouse's situation.

Elfie and Mike Gagne assisted the greenhouse with logistics, while Vince Sharpe offered to take the Tuk greenhouse for free by boat. When his boat couldn't go, members of Bob's Welding stepped up to take it. Lynda Blair from Manitoulin found space for the greenhouse packages on the Ulukhaktok barge at a guaranteed low rate. Solotki said Aklak Air and BBE also tried to help out.

As those items ship, the greenhouse can look to spending its $5,000 prize in the Tangerine contest, which was earned through online voting.

"We're so excited," said Solotki. "We have to work really hard for every penny that we get. This one was almost completely done by our followers on social media."

Coordinator Emily Mann said the money will go to a number of activities, but the facility will especially be looking at enhancing its composting program.

"We want to be able to create a pickup service where we drive to people's homes in Inuvik and pick up their compost for them to encourage them to compost more," said Mann.

"Maybe people want to compost but they don't know where to bring it. If we are able to pick it up for them, that means more food will be composted and less will go to the landfill."

The greenhouse is also refining its own compost system at the back of the building to increase its capacity for handling compost.

Mann and Solotki thanked the voters for helping the greenhouse win the contest.

"From years of learning to stretch a dollar as far as we can, we should be able to do some really great programming there thanks to the Tangerine funding," said Solotki.

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